The Foundlings
by Lost-In-The-Muse
Summary: The day seven year old Rey tried to scavenge parts from the Razor Crest belonging to a Mandalorian was the day that changed the fate of the galaxy forever. Because she took one look at the itty bitty little green baby, and then there was no getting rid of her. Din just wants to know why he keeps finding so many unsupervised children running around the galaxy.
1. The Adventures of Rey and Mr Stick

The adults were acting weird. Weirder than usual, at least.

An off-worlder landed outside the Niima Outpost and sent all of the grownups running around as if the Jawas had stolen their best friend and refused to give them back.

Rey had only caught a glimpse of the stranger when they entered the house with the weird smelling drinks that kids were banned from entering. He looked like a droid with all of that sparkling silver armor and had a super big and super awesome blaster slung across his back.

A couple of the stall owners in the market area started sprinting away the moment the stranger turned his helmeted head in their direction.

There were a few groups of older scavengers standing in the peripheral. With their hands on their weapons, they looked like they were about to start a fight. But some of them had that glint in their face that Rey knew to mean that they were about to snag up a really good piece of scrap.

She didn't get what all of the fuss was about. As cool as he looked, the Droid-man couldn't possibly cause as much trouble as the Blobfish's henchmen with their scary-looking weapons.

There was only one Droid-man and like, a bazillion thugs working for the Blobfish! No one wanted to get on the Blobfish's bad side, and that was a fact.

But that armor-

It was shiny, clean, and expensive looking.

Three almost completely foreign concepts on Jakku.

Lots of people have told Rey that she was young and stupid, but even she could tell that even a tiny little bit of some of that metal could get her more food portions than she'd ever received in her life.

So that's when she hatched her plan. She'd grab her best friend Mr. Stick, and the two of them would follow the Droid-man back to his ship. Then, when the Droid-Man wasn't looking, she'd climb aboard the ship all sneaky-beaky like and scavenge some of that metal.

She'd only take a small amount. The Droid-man wouldn't even notice, and Rey could get some good portions that would fill her belly with yummy yum yums. Besides, it didn't look like he needed any extra metal since he had so much of it on his person.

Rey hid behind some trash cans, eagerly watching the entrance of the adults-only restaurant, waiting for her target to come out.

It didn't take too long, the sun had barely moved in the sky before the curtained door was pulled away, and the Droid-man came out, his hand hovering over a small blaster attached to his hip.

"So cool," Rey breathed as she pulled Mr. Stick close to her, "Come on, let's follow him!"

Rey quickly ducked her head and got down on her hands and knees. She crawled out from behind the trash cans and scuttled over to one of the abandoned market stalls.

She was pretty sure that whoever ran that stand was one of the people who hightailed it out of the Outpost when the Droid-man arrived. But in their hurry, they left behind stacks upon stacks of crates and boxes behind the counter that she could use as cover.

Rey sat down and peeked out of her little hiding spot, moving Mr. Stick with her so that he could also see.

The Droid-man walked right past Rey's position without noticing her, but then he stopped just a few paces away. The sun silhouetted his form, and little beams of orange and gold bounced off the edges of the armor. His cape billowed in the light breeze.

Rey covered her mouth and tightened her grip on Mr. Stick. She pressed herself into the boxes, hoping that her beige clothing would make her blend right in with the sand and junk around her.

It was time to play the quiet game. Rey always the best at it, especially when she played with her parents.

There was a stillness.

Then the Droid-man snapped his head around!

Rey retracted her head out of his line of sight as fast as possible. She couldn't stop her body from jittering at the unexpected movement. Rey focused hard on keeping herself from squirming and kept her heartbeat under control.

The best way to win the quiet game was if you were calm.

Rey counted to ten in her head then on her fingers just to double-check and then decided that enough time had passed to risk a look.

Her target was still there, but he wasn't looking her way anymore. The Droid-man stayed put for a few moments longer. Then he started moving forward, making his way out of the settlement and towards the neverending wasteland of the desert.

Rey smiled and mentally did a victory dance.

If there was one advantage Rey had over anyone on this side of the desert planet was that she was a kid, and she was small. No one paid attention to small kids.

And it seemed like the Droid-man didn't notice small kids like her either, which worked well in Rey's favor.

She followed the Droid-man. Always keeping her distance, always ducking behind dunes when she thought he was about to spot her, always making sure her target was in her line of sight.

Mr. Stick helped too! As Rey's best friend who also doubled as her right-hand man, it was part of Mr. Stick's job description to be her backup and protect her should the need arise.

And he was great for whacking things. And people on occasion.

But only if they were trying to steal Rey's spoils of the day, or being jerks in general. Rey didn't go around whacking people with Mr. Stick if they didn't deserve it.

She was a nice little girl if nothing else.

The Droid-man trekked on and on, over dunes, and past skeleton ships.

The sun beat down hard against Rey's back, and even though she was covered from head to toe in her light desert garb, the heat was still painful. She was getting tired, but she wasn't about to give up now. Rey was going to follow him until he led her right to his treasure!

There were portions on the line here!

But when the Droid-man's ship came into view, Rey thought that it surely must have been some sort of mistake.

She pinched her forearm, stretched her cheeks, moved to use another dune as a hiding spot, and even rubbed her eyes so hard she saw stars dancing around like bits of sand in the wind. But nope, the same sight greeted her.

The ship was a dumpster-fire, plain and simple. Even worse than the garbage, the Blobfish kept under a tarp by the Outpost.

Rey could only identify the ship as a Razor Crest because she'd found so many beat-up models that she'd stripped for parts while she was working. They were all so old she never even considered that there would be any left in the whole entire galaxy that could still fly.

It had to be a joke, or a trick, or something like that.

But no, the Droid-man pressed a button on the side and stepped aside to let the hanger door slowly fall open. Then he walked inside like he owned it.

This was not good. If the Droid-man was as rich as his armor said he was, then how come he flew around in a pile of flaming trash?

Maybe Rey was wrong, the metal wasn't actually that valuable. It could just be like one of those dud-pieces that only looked nice but was completely and worthless and wouldn't get her any food.

And then Rey deflated, hunching her shoulders as she exhaled.

She couldn't take anything from him if he didn't have much, to begin with. Rey couldn't do that to the Droid-man, he never did anything wrong to her. And the idea of snatching some scrap from him suddenly made her feel twisty and guilty and unpleasant on the inside

It was wrong to steal from those who were worse off, and if she did, she'd be just like the Blobfish. Rey never wanted to be like that big old jerk-face.

Besides, just the sight of his ship alone made her so sad that she wanted to leave out some of her portions for him to make sure that his stomach wouldn't grumble when he went to bed at night.

Rey gasped out loud as her energy suddenly returned to her.

"New plan, Mr. Stick! We're going back out to the Starship Graveyard and find more scrap! Then all of us can have food portions, and Droid-man won't starve to death!"

The Droid-man was a traveler, and Rey remembered when she was a traveler herself. Back when she was still with her parents. It wasn't as rough as it was on Jakku, but Rey knew there were long periods where they didn't stop the ship to get food, and had to live off of what little they had on them.

The hunger had always felt like what Rey imagined a blaster to the stomach would feel. Empty and painful at the same time. It only got worse when she arrived on the desert planet.

Rey didn't want the Droid-man to suffer like that. So she was going to feed him.

With that resolution set, Rey nodded to her right-hand man, slid down the dune a few feet so that she was completely out of sight of the Razor Crest, and pushed herself off of the ground.

She had just the spot in mind, just west of the Niima Outpost. Rey had overheard some of the older scavengers talking earlier that morning about a new ship being uncovered during the last sandstorm.

The area was 'supposedly' unstable at the moment so the scavengers said that they weren't planning on heading there until next week, but Rey wasn't buying it. She knew those scavengers, and they were probably just saying that to keep others away from their new-found treasures.

Plus Rey was small and light, she could get into places that others couldn't. Rey did the additions and multiplications in her head and then figured that even if the older kids were right, she'd still manage to reach the ship without dying. Probably.

She planned on grabbing the navigation parts from the ship, especially if they still worked since she could get a whole lot of portions for those. Also, if there were any weapons or boobytraps, those would be good. And games were fun! She'd like to get some of those!

Oh! And rainbow-colored lights, a pilot helmet, some big ol' switches, and buttons, and toggles, and, and, and-

-And there was a trail of glitter in the air.

Hold on, no-

No, there wasn't. Wait, yes, there was.

There was a trail, a feeling, an urging. Rey shouldn't go. Not to that ship. Not yet. There was something there. A flash- THERE!

Rey blinked her eyes furiously and clutched her head.

It was a feeling. A feeling, a feeling, a feeling.

The same bursting feeling that would warn Rey if she was about to step on an unstable foothold while climbing up the side of a massive starship. The same twist of intuition that would tell her to back away from some angry adults that didn't look angry. The same guiding hand that would lead her to a shelter in a vicious desert storm.

It was there. It was talking to her without speaking.

She shouldn't go to the ship in the west. Rey slowly turned her head, eyes falling once again on the Droid-man's dumpster-fire. She should go to that one.

Something was there. Something was on that ship, and she needed to get there.

The message was loud and clear, and Rey couldn't contain herself.

She had a feeling. Not just any feeling but a connection. Something so strong, and so potent that it wrapped around her very being and held her in a big hug that was warm enough to keep her comfy even in the coldest night.

Rey hadn't felt a connection like this since- since-

"Mommy and Daddy," she whispered.

Not since her connection to her parents was severed.

She had to get inside that Razor Crest. She didn't know how, but she had to.

It was as if her feet had developed a mind of their own because suddenly she was airborne. Rey leaped over the crest of the dune, tucked her head and twisted her body around so that she could cushion her fall, and roll down the hill.

She landed at the bottom in a plume of dust, then wasted no time scrambling up to her feet and shooting off towards the ship at a full-blown sprint. The open hatch was right there. All she had to do was get to it.

Rey was vibrating with energy, and her fingers were trembling. Her hairs were standing on end, and there was a distinct smell of burning wires in the air. Or maybe it was cleaning products. Why would there be cleaning products out here?

Rey didn't care, she had to get into the ship.

Into the ship, into the ship, into the ship.

She had to get into the ship now.

With a final burst of speed, Rey pushed forward, going faster than she ever thought she could possibly move-

And immediately slammed into the landing gear of the Razor Crest.

Rey miscalculated her trajectory. She wasn't able to slow down in time to avoid the collision in her mad dash.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwwwww that hurt!

There was a loud ringing in her ears as she pancaked against the sand with a loud "oof." The wind was knocked right out of her chest, and Mr. Stick flew out of her hands.

She lay there like a dried up starfish for a few seconds, desperately gasping for air, when the clang-clang-clang sound of footsteps echoed from the ship. Rey raised here head up dizzily before she groaned and let it fall back down.

The vast sky lay open in front of her. That dull pastel blue that always looked like it was covered in a layer of dust. It was cloudless, dull, flat, and unsettling.

Rey hated that every time she looked up, all she could think of was the ghost of her parent's ship. Flying away without her on it.

It was a mistake and an honest one. They didn't mean to leave without her.

But even now, she could see it up in the sky. That big silver block of metal with sharp edges, and points, and a black, sideways 'T' right smack dab in the middle of it…

Wait, that wasn't her parents' ship.

"You alright, kid?" A robotic voice asked. It was the Droid-man. The Droid-man was here. He was kneeling right next to her. Oh, shoot, this was supposed to be a stealth mission, he wasn't supposed to see her.

Rey quickly propped her upper body up on her elbows, "I wasn't scavenging your ship!" She blurted out, because that was the truth, even if it wasn't initially.

The Droid-man tilted his head to the side, and Rey wished that helmet wasn't in the way so that she could read his facial expressions. It was harder to tell if he was upset or not.

"That's good to know." He said in a way that Rey just knew that he didn't believe her, and that was not good. Not good at all.

"It's true! I wasn't!" Rey insisted.

"Alright," the Droid-man said, "And I'm guessing that you didn't follow me all the way from the outpost, either."

Drat. He knew. And what's worse, Rey couldn't tell if he was mad about it. She hoped he wasn't. But just in case, Rey decided to play innocent.

"Nope!" she lied like a lying liar, "I was, uhhhh, looking for other ships to scavenge! Not yours, of course, because, uhhhhh… Too pretty! It's too pretty! So I'm looking for another ship! Not yours! And- and- and-" Rey trailed off because, for the life of her, she didn't know what to say to make sure the Droid-man didn't get mad at her.

The Droid-man sighed before sitting back on his heels. Every movement he made caused his cape to shift and swirl around his form. Rey was completely entranced by it, watching the creases disappear and reform like sand ripples in the wind.

She wondered if she could ever get a cape as awesome looking as that. And a helmet to match too.

"That bruise looks nasty." the Droid-man observed, his helmet tipping down as if to indicate towards the throbbing bump growing on Rey's forehead. "If you would let me, I have some medical supplies on my ship."

Rey immediately scrunched her face together in displeasure, "What do you get out of it?" Because medical help on Jakku always came with a catch. Always.

The Droid-man was quiet for a moment like he was contemplating the answer. "I tracked a bounty here. I've got the chain code, but no puck or fob. You can help me identify the person I'm looking for,``he said after what felt like forever.

Rey shook her head and narrowed her eyes, still suspicious, "So why ask me, then? Aren't there, a bunch of people way more qualified to help?" she dug deeper.

"Kids are a lot more observant than adults give them credit for." The Droid-man simply said, then he stood up. "Listen, I can bring the medical kit out here," he lifted his hand to gesture at the deserted desert landscape, "or I can treat you inside." He pointed with two of his fingers at the open hatch of the Razor Crest, "Your choice."

A lightbulb went off inside Rey's head, and her suspicions were allocated to the back of her mind. This was it! This was her chance to get on the ship! It wasn't the sneaky route she expected to follow, but it would get her to her intended destination all the same.

She closed her eyes, inhaled, and with renewed giddiness, she noticed the connection was still there. It was faint, but there all the same.

Rey eagerly nodded her head, "Inside, please." Then she patted the ground until her fingers wrapped around Mr. Stick. "My friend comes too."

The Droid-man shifted his helmet towards the object in her hand, "That is a metal pipe." he stated flatly.

"His name is Mr. Stick," Rey said, feeling a little offended at the Droid-man's dismissal of her right-hand man.

The Droid-man didn't move for a few beats and then, "Alright, Mr. Stick can come too. Can you stand?" he asked.

"Uhhhhhhhhh, maybe. Probably. Wait, let me do it myself! Yup! See, I can stand just fine." Rey said as her legs wobbled slightly underneath her. She waited a few seconds to allow herself to stabilize, and then she gave the Droid-man a thumbs up, "I can stand super duper well. No help needed."

The Droid-man slowly nodded, and then turned "Good. Come on." He gestured to follow him.

Rey didn't need much more prompting because she quickly fell in line and trotted up the ramp after the Droid-man, and crossed the threshold into the ship.

**Author's Note:**

**This story was inspired by the amazing mutalune on AO3 and their story _dry as a bone_ because I cannot get enough of the idea of Din going around adopting all of the kids. Seriously, go check out their story, it's basically marshmallow fluff in fanfic form, and at this point its cuteness levels has reached lethal proportions.**  
**I probably shouldn't be starting another story when I have so many others that I need to work on, but I just couldn't help it. The Mandalorian has become my favorite show so far this year and I'm also not entirely happy with The Rise of Skywalker narratively speaking so this fic is just me sitting here molding canon to do my bidding. Meaning that the timeline of events have been moved around, the ages of the sequel trilogy characters have been changed, and some backstories have been modified (but not all!).**

**Thank you for reading! Until next time!**

**~Lost-In-The-Muse**


	2. The Adventures of Two Small Beans

The second she stepped inside the ship, Rey got distracted.

She had seen Razor Crests before, lots of them. But they had always been in various states of scrap. Most of them had been raided and stripped by other scavengers that managed to reach the ships before her, taking all of the good goodies before she could ever get to them.

But Rey had never actually been inside a fully functioning Razor Crest that still had all of its parts intact, and it was absolutely fascinating.

There were so many colorful buttons! Some of the lights blinked, and others buzzed, and some just twinkled above. All of the tubes, panels, and wires were in their places and looked well maintained.

Rey's fingers twitched, but she tucked Mr. Stick under her arm and lifted her hands up in front of her face so that she could scold them quietly.

Bad sticky fingers. Now was not the time.

Part of her wanted to just rip the place to salvageable shreds. There were so many parts, so many pieces out in the open that she could scavenge. So many objects in her vicinity that could get her enough portions to last her a whole week!

Just thinking of all of the yum yums she could have made her stomach rumble.

But she was a guest, and guests don't try to scavenge their host's ship. It wasn't polite. Besides, her head was starting to really hurt, and the Droid-man said that he could help with that.

Besides, she couldn't be thinking about scavenging now; she made it into the ship!

But wait, now what?

The connection buzzed. She was in the right place, so what was she supposed to do?

Rey looked to the Droid-man for some sort of guidance.

He was down the other end of the ship, rummaging around in several open compartments. Rey could hear all of the clinkity-clankity rattles from all of the different things and objects that he pushed aside as he looked for something.

The Droid-man did not say anything, but he didn't need to. For once, his body language was clear. The tight movements, and the increasingly forceful searching. Rey knew the Droid-man was getting frustrated, and when an adult got frustrated they were one tiny little push away from getting mad.

Mad adults were bad news. Very bad news.

Rey started to play the quiet game again. The first rule of the game was that it began whenever a grownup got upset or angry. Rey wasn't sure if the Droid-man had crossed that line yet, but she didn't want to risk it.

He suddenly straightened up, turned and headed towards Rey. She instinctively pressed herself back against the wall, and held Mr. Stick tight to her chest, almost cutting her shoulder on one of his jagged edges. Her eyes flickered to the open hatch.

The Droid-man paused in his path when he reached her.

In her peripheral vision, the Droid-man took a step away from her and knelt down, placing his forearm across his knee to support his upper body. Rey refused to make eye contact. But she did notice the way that the warm lights above them made his armor gleam in an almost golden-green color.

Like that scrap of ribbon that she had found a while back at one of the stalls in the Outpost market. It was shiny, and pretty, and she used it to tie her hair up on special occasions, or just whenever she was feeling fancy, or felt like she needed a pick-me-up.

"Seems like the med-kit was misplaced. I'm going to go see if it's in the cockpit." The Droid-man explained keeping his voice low and calm. "Can you wait here while I go check?"

Rey kept her mouth shut. She needed to win the quiet game and protect her title as the reigning champion, she wasn't going to talk. But a bit of the tension in her shoulders melted; it didn't look like he was as mad as she thought he was. So Rey allowed herself to nod her head in acknowledgement.

The Droid-man returned the nod, "Good. I'll be back-"

Rey suddenly jerked her head back. In her mind, the distant voices of her parents melded together with the robotic undertones of the armored man in front of her.

That's what they all said.

The Droid-man fell silent, then slowly got up. Moving at a snail's pace so that Rey could see each and every one of his moments, the Droid-man grabbed hold of the ladder began to climb.

He looked over at her one last time, "Stay here. Ok?" he said. And then he was gone.

The moment the Droid-man disappeared out of sight, Rey scrambled over to the ladder so that she could see where he went. The trap door was open, and she could see a bit of the upper parts of the ship. But no matter what angle she stood at, she couldn't see the Droid-man.

She stared, unsure if she should follow the Droid-man to keep him in her sights, or if she should actually do as she was told and stay put.

He said he would be back.

They said that too.

After a moment of deliberation she quietly grabbed hold of the nearest ladder rung and stood beside it. She was on his ship. Even if he left her, he wouldn't leave the ship. Adults never abandon their ships if it still worked, that was a fact. And judging by the constant hum of machinery echoing through the repurposed cargo hold, this Razor Crest could still fly.

The Droid-man won't leave the ship, and if Rey stayed on the ship he won't leave her. Simple as that.

So she will wait.

That didn't mean she had to like it, however.

Waiting was boring.

And her head was beginning to really throb. It had started out as a sharp, pokey kind of pain. Like those times she accidentally stabbed herself on a sharp piece of metal during one of her scavenging hunts. But now it was more like a dull burning sensation, as if she had placed her forehead on a hot plate and was slowly increasing the temperature.

It was uncomfortable and she wanted it to stop.

Rey decided that the quiet game was over now. The Droid-man wasn't around, and if he wasn't around he couldn't get mad at her. So she started making clicking noises by snapping her tongue against the roof of her mouth, just to keep her mind off of her growing headache. She remembered hearing somewhere that if you didn't think about pain, then it would go away.

She blew a raspberry and swung Mr. Stick around like a staff, and pretended that she was a valiant warrior fighting against a hoard of shadow monsters that lived deep in the depths of ghost ships.

The older Scavenger kids told her stories about them. The shadow monsters who liked to feast on annoying little kids who kept trying to tag along with the big kids even when they've been told to go away like a million times already. They told her how the monsters drag their unsuspecting victims down, down, down, into chasms that led all the way to the planet's core.

How the monsters hid in the cracks and shadows that people couldn't see. Watching. Waiting. How they would wait until the frigid night to catch their prey when no one would notice.

Of course, Rey wasn't scared of them. She was too big to be scared.

Plus, those scavengers didn't even know what they were talking about. Rey should know because when she managed to corner one of those kids who was spreading around those stories, he said that the best way to keep the shadow monsters from taking interest in her was to leave out three whole prepared portions outside her hidey-hole by the Northern dunes. That way the monsters would be more interested in the portions rather than her.

It was a lot of food to give up, but Rey thought that on the off chance that there actually were shadow monsters stalking her then it would be better to be prepared. She'd rather not, you know, get digested if she could help it.

But when Rey left out her offerings, she woke up the next morning to find that only one of the food portions had a big ol' bite in it, and the rest was untouched. It looked like the monster had been by but he didn't like her food.

Maybe it was because of the dead Skittermice she had shoved into each of the portions. Rey figured that if shadow monsters liked the taste of flesh then they'd appreciate some dead rodents as a treat.

Oddly enough, that same scavenger who told her about this particular strategy for dealing with shadow monsters was sick for days after that. He even refused to ever talk to her again, and kept trying to find excuses to leave whenever they were in the same place.

Weird, huh?

Rey didn't bother leaving out any more portions after that failed experiment, and decided to take her chances with the shadow monsters directly. Nothing remotely resembling a shadow monster ever attacked her, and the fact that she was still alive and kicking was the ultimate proof that a shadow monster never ate her either.

Besides, she had Mr. Stick with her. He'd warn her if a monster was creeping up on her.

With a confident smile, Rey twirled Mr. Stick in the air like a sword, causing happy little swoosh noises when the metal pipe swung through the air. Rey imagined it was a shadow monster's scream of defeat.

She jabbed to the right! To the left! A block! A Swipe there! Another block there! Another hi-

_CLINK_

Rey nearly jumped out of her own skin.

She did not hit anything. That wasn't the sound of Mr. Stick getting hit against the paneling of the ship. That noise didn't come from above either where the Droid-man was. The sound came from the cargo hold. Somewhere in the room with her.

_CLANK_

She pressed herself against the ladder as she held up Mr. Stick to swing down on anyone or anything that approached her.

Silence. Nothing moved. Rey didn't dare breath.

Paranoia crawled up her spine to clench at her heart. Shadow monsters weren't real, right? Right?

_CLONK_

Rey shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot and then back to the left, like she was on a mini seesaw. She scanned the area, eyes darting from one corner of the cargo hold of the ship to the other. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing had moved. So what was making that noise?

Then suddenly, there was a soft, bell chime giggle. Rey's brain stalled for a moment. What?

Behind her, Rey heard something slide. It was the sound of a compartment door opening. She whirled around, her defense up and her best friend ready, then she froze. Her fingers went lax, one by one, and Mr. Stick clattered to the floor.

Rey let a noise that was a cross between a gasp and a squeal pass her lips. The universe sang, it was throwing rainbow glitter everywhere, shooting warm and fuzzies straight into her heart, and if Rey focused hard enough she could hear melodious music floating through the air like a cloud of kicked-up sand.

This was it. This was where the connection led to. Right here. Right now.

Peeking out from a secret compartment that had up until that moment escaped Rey's notice, was a little green creature pair of large, fuzzy, pointed ears. It blinked its bleary puppy-dog brown eyes, and cooed at Rey.

"Aaaaawwww," Rey cooed back, her voice increasing by an octave or two. "You're so cute!" she squealed and rushed over to get a better look at the itty bitty baby.

Rey stopped short of the compartment and rose up on her tiptoes so that she could peek in. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the creature. He was the cutest, most adorablest little baby she'd ever seen on this side of Jakku.

He was the _only_ baby she'd ever seen on this side of Jakku for that matter. Adults didn't usually bring their kid into the Blobfish's territory, and Rey was the youngest person living outside of the permanent settlements. There really weren't any kids around that were her age, and to find a sentient creature that was actually younger than her was an absolute novelty.

And he was so helpless-looking too. All bundled up and snug in a brown cloak like a burrito, reaching out for her with his little clawed hands.

Rey raised her whole arm up and over the ledge and stuck it in front of the baby. He grabbed hold of her index finger and let out a happy little trill. Rey felt like she had been chosen by a divine power.

"I would die for you," she whispered in awe, making the baby giggle. Rey grinned so hard her face hurt. "I'm gonna be your big sister now," she decided. The baby squealed in agreement, and Rey squealed back.

She wasn't going to treat him like all of those jerk-faced older scavenger kids treated her. She wouldn't trash his forts, or steal his best friend, or sabotage his scavenging trips, or talk down to him like he was a stupid little worm.

No, Rey was going to protect him! She was going to make sure that he would get plenty of portions, plenty of things to drink, that no one bullied him, and no one tried to hurt him.

They could go sand sledding in the dunes! And make little dolls out of wires and plastic scrapes so that they could play house! Play tag and hid-and-seek in the Starship Graveyard when there weren't too many scavengers around! They could go inside abandoned ships and press all of the rainbow buttons and pull all the levers and pretend that they were flying away on an epic space adventure!

Oh! Oh! Oh! And Rey was definitely going to have to show him the best places to find scrap, and since he was little like her-

Rey felt a stone drop in her stomach, and suddenly it was difficult to breath. Her heart was beating. It was beating faster, and faster, faster, faster faster fasterfasterfaster-

He was little, like her. He was a baby. Adults didn't bring babies out here. Sometimes kids, but never babies. And those kids who were brought to this side of the planet always stayed. The parents never did.

They never did.

No.

Unacceptable.

The baby was not going to be left behind.

Rey didn't even want to think of what the Blobfish would do if he got a hold of him. He would send her little brother off to the most dangerous sites, make the baby crawl through live wires, and leave him to the mercy of the desert because if he could gather scrape then he could take care of himself.

That can't happen. She won't let it.

The baby warbled and tilted his head. As if sensing Rey's sudden surge of terror, he grabbed hold of Rey's finger with his other hand and sent a tiny pulse of comfort through the air. Through the invisible glitter.

Somehow, Rey could feel herself calming down. It didn't quite feel like her heart was trying to tear its way out of her chest anymore, and the fearful rush of adrenaline was abading. But her hands were shaking. Both of them. They were shaking so much, why won't they stop?

Stop.

Stop it.

Stop shaking.

Rey balled her free hand into a fist, and let that arm rest at her side. She did the same with her other hand after carefully extracting it away from her new found baby brother.

The little green baby kept sending pulses of warmth and reassurance, even as she stepped back. By the time Rey crouched down to pick up Mr. Stick and apologize for dropping him, Rey's hands stopped trembling completely.

Out of her fear, determination rose. Rey put herself between the compartment that held her brother, and the ladder that led up to the cockpit. She lowered herself into a fighting stance she'd seen some of the adults take. Feet shoulder length apart, a slight bend in the knees, and Mr. Stick held out in front of her like a sword.

She took a deep breath. She didn't care if the Droid-man was going to be mad, there was too much at stake now. Besides, she could use that to their advantage. After all if the Droid-man was too busy being mad at her then he would forget to leave the baby.

Rey tightened her grip until her knuckles went white.

The baby was not leaving this ship. Not if Rey could help it.

The moment she saw a pair of boots lower themselves down through the trapdoor, Rey struck. With a loud war-cry, she swung Mr. Stick as hard as she could, but the hit never landed.

The Droid-man moved like a ghost. One minute he was only just beginning to climb down the ladder and then the next he was behind her, one hand holding Rey's wrist down uncomfortably tight, and the other holding Mr. Stick out of her reach. Not too far away however since he was holding a medkit under the same arm.

"Hey, hey, calm down," The Droid-man warned, a steel edge seeping into his words "This isn't a fight you want to start, kid."

Rey renewed her struggle with a fervor. "Yes I do!" she yelled as she tried and failed to swipe Mr. Stick away from the Droid-man, "You can't leave him! That's banned! I made it illegal! He has to stay on the ship!"

The Droid-man's grip on her wrist lessened, but then he put Mr. Stick on a high shelf that Rey had no hope of reaching. She snarled angrily, pulling her lips back to show off her teeth in an attempt to make herself as intimidating as possible. The Droid-man was not having it.

"Explain." He demanded.

That was anger in his voice. The Droid-man was mad. Rey expected this, but every fiber of her being was screaming for her to run and hide.

She was teetering on hysteria, and it all came out as one giant word-vomit.

"He's too small and he'll get eaten alive by the other scavengers and by actual, and the Blobfish won't care because he never cares about anyone, and there won't be enough portions so he'll go hungry, and if he gets hurt or sick there isn't anyone I can take him too, and he could get trapped in a sandstorm or get caught in a fight with a Teedo or get knocked unconscious by broken scrap or fall into a sinkhole and he's going to _miss you so much, that I-" _Rey was cut off when a loud, ugly sob rattled her frame.

With one last sharp tug, Rey wrenched her arm away from the Droid-man. Her hands shot to her mouth and she tilted her head up as quickly as she could to keep the tears from falling. Pressure built up in her chest, and a cloudy film of moisture covered her eyes. Crying was not allowed. She was a big girl, and big girls don't cry. She couldn't show any weakness, especially not now.

A gentle weight materialized on her trembling shoulder accompanied by gentle words. She heard the Droid-man say, "You are allowed to cry, you know. It'll make you feel better in the long run. It's worse if you keep it all bottled up inside."

But it wasn't ok. It never was.

"You can't leave him," Rey's voice cracked, "He's just a baby."

"I'm not leaving him."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Just like that, any fight Rey had in her melted away. She did not cry. She didn't. But her legs turned to jelly and lost the strength to hold up her own weight. She sank to the floor, hugged her knees to her chest, and buried her face. Her breathing was irregular, her face turned red, and her throat burned like acid, but her cheeks remained dry.

Rey. Did. Not. Cry.

It took everything she had to make sure that she didn't.

But in Rey's catatonic haze, she could feel a small, three-fingered hand rub circles on her calf. She could hear a soft and soothing lullaby, sung in a beautiful language that she couldn't understand.

And that made her feel just a tiny bit better.

**Author's note: **

**This chapter was finished later than I anticipated, but at least the wait wasn't too long. Here's to hoping chapter 3 will be up sooner, although I am traveling this month and the Wifi connection is not ideal where I am. That being said, I tried my best to correct all of the grammar mistakes but I'm not confident I caught all of them so if you see any then my bad. **

**As energetic and tenacious as Kid!Rey is, she is still a very traumatized seven year old who doesn't trust easily and is hypervigilant about any potential threats against her. Din isn't trying to scare Rey at all and in fact he is going out of his way to try and make himself as non-threatening as possible. Rey is a bit of an unreliable narrator, however, because she barely trusts Din at all and meeting Baby Yoda unearthed some recent memories that she has been trying to suppress. **

**Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Until next time!**

**~Lost-In-The-Muse**


End file.
